In 1916 Wimmer described psychogenic psychosis as a psychosis secondary to mental trauma.

Currently, psychogenic psychosis is included among acute and transient psychotic disorders (F23) in the ICD-10 and among the brief psychotic disorders (298.8) in the DSM IV-TR.

We review the case histories of patients diagnosed with psychogenic psychosis for the purpose of analysing the stability of the diagnosis and its current validity.

The sample consisted of 15 patients admitted to the Psychiatric Department of the Conxo Hospital in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) with a diagnosis of psychogenic psychosis between 1998 and 2006. A descriptive analysis was made based on a series of socio-demographic and clinical variables. Afterward, in October 2006, patients were followed up in their respective mental health units to verify their current diagnosis and clinical status.

The sample included 14 women and 1 man with mean age of 33,7 years. The most frequent prior personality trait was histrionic (42%). Persecutory delusions (58%) and auditory hallucinations (46%) were the predominant psychotic symptoms. In the months after follow-up, the majority of patients maintained the diagnosis of psychogenic psychosis (73%), while 9% of patients were diagnosed with dysthymia, and 2 patients developed schizophrenia with deterioration.

The majority of patients in our sample diagnosed with psychogenic psychosis maintain a stable diagnosis over time and do not present deterioration.